No, I'm not back into Counter-Strike again...But I 'm back in College Station and that means school is back in session. Surprisingly I have a ton of time on hand since my classes are bunched together and I don't have a job...yet. Instead of updating my blog that no one reads anyways, I've been working on a couple of other more important web projects with a friend.

The first project is a browser-based MMO. It's sort of a mix between an RTS and MMO with a more futuristic setting. We are hoping to incorporate finance in as well, so their will be banking and trading aspects to the game. Our ideas are pretty grandiose, but we are slowly making progress. Hopefully we will have something to showcase by the end of the year.

The second project is a little more secretive, but I'm hoping for it to go live by the middle of October. If you are an Aggie, you may find the site useful

Before going off to Europe for study abroad, I got interested in food, nutrition, and that sort of stuff. I’ve been skinny all my life and eat pretty well but still thought it would be something good to look into. When I returned to the U.S. specifically New York City, I quickly got bored of following around my family on their shopping adventures and bought a book to read. I picked up a book called In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan that I heard about on the web. Even though it seemed like it could have been vegetarian propaganda, the reviews looked good making my purchase decision easier.

Since my trip ended Wednesday, I decided to end the daily blog coinciding with it. The subject matter of my blog should begin switching towards usefulness. So look forward to some potentially useful articles on finance or technology.

After relaxing in the Delta Crown Club for an hour, I boarded my ten hour flight to Newark. The flight itself wasn’t bad and went by quickly. I actually got a little sleeping in as well as some spider solitaire. The lady sitting next to me was interesting and talkative, and Dr. Bradford was in front. I guessing it was them two who made the trip go by quick. The lady was living in Berlin during World War II. She asked me what I was studying, and she responded back, “Oh, I don’t like to talk about World War II.” It was amusing to have her randomly start talking to me in German. She spoke good English being American, but she got use to speaking German while back in the homeland.

Getting back of to America was a sigh of relief. Seeing and hearing English is an awesome experience after being in France and Germany for a month and knowing very little of either languages. But the sigh of relief was short lived… My baggage came out ten minutes after everyone else’s luggage. On my way to New York City, I begin to suffer from what I’ll call “subway syndrome.” It’s the phenomenon where people became brain dead trying to travel via rail or subway. On the train ride from Newark to NYC, I got off at Penn Station in New Jersey instead of New York. Why the hell are there two Penn Stations? Fortunately it was only a wasted half hour and four extra dollars. Once I got to the Penn Station in NYC, I hopped on the subway. Long story short, I basically road up and down the subway on the same part of town for an hour, asked people for help, and had to lug around my backpack, duffel bag, and fifty pound suitcase up and down flights of stairs. By the time I actually got to my hotel, I was sweaty, thirsty, and ready to sleep.

After resting around and getting into arguments with my family, we walked to Broadway to check it out and get something to eat. We went to an Italian placed called Carmines. The portions were big (its served family style), and the prices were nice considering the size of the portions and being in NYC. Maybe it just seemed cheap because I’m use to Europe and paying in Euros.

My last full day in Europe is something I’ve been looking forward for the last week or so. Classes, foreign food, field trips, and class start to take a toll on you physically and mentally. Europe has been great, but eventually you miss home. After leaving the EAO, we made a detour to Luxembourg City. We had been in Luxembourg a few days before, but we only drove through. I was pretty anxious to just sleep and get home, so Luxembourg wasn’t too fun. But at least I got to visit a country I might not ever be able to visit again. Then we hopped back on the bus for several hours in route to Frankfurt. Now I’m just here playing 42 and trying my best not to fall asleep. I have a feeling I’ll end up not being able to sleep on the plane anyways.

Classes or field trips everyday and an upcoming test have kept me busy since arriving in Germany. Today we finally finished up the actual study portion of the study abroad. The tests weren’t easy but weren’t too hard. I’m just glad to be done and going back to the states soon. Unfortunately we still have one more field trip that includes a museum. I’m pretty much “museumed” out. Tonight is our last night at the EAO, and we said our goodbyes to the awesome bartender named Lily.

Our field trip today took us to Camp Hinzert and Fort Hackenburg. Camp Hinzert was a small-scale concentration camp. The little museum and the Holocaust, in general, are depressing. It’s not really one of those things you want to learn about. After lunch back at the EAO and a long bus ride, we arrived at Fort Hackenburg. Our tour guide was an old man who was nearly inaudible. It was funny because our two professors would kind of give their own tour. Some other English-speaking but non-Aggie people were with us. They would ask questions and usually Dr. Bradford or Estes would answer them. I don’t think the tour guide really appreciated it. The fort itself was part of the Maginot Line. It was pretty extensive and nearly impenetrable. No Maginot Line forts were defeated during World War II. Deep underground bunkers and rotating artillery pieces are always exciting!